Here Comes Santa Paws
Laurien Berenson
September 27, 2019

Laurien Berenson gives us her 24th episode in Melanie Travis’s life in her next book, Here Comes Santa Paws. Melanie is out of school for the holidays trying to manage decorating, shopping for gifts, and managing the boys as well as all five of her dogs. Her plans are thrown awry when Claire called. Claire, now married to Melanie’s ex-husband Bob, (and Davey’s step mother) is one of Melanie’s best friends. Her voice sounded frightened, she was whispering so it was difficult to hear anything she said. When at last Claire spoke up, she told Melanie how horrible it was, she had just found a dead body at the home of a client she was visiting. She had dialed 911 but wanted the assurance of Melanie’s company.
From that introduction to the plot, we find the usual chaos with discovering who was dead and how the deed happened, as well as the many questions to follow. With each character that was brought into the story line more query followed and by the time the police were involved much bedlam ensued.
I enjoy Berenson’s books but in this case the plot became a bit hard to follow. The disposed was a woman who changed her identity. The owner of the property where she was killed was an eccentric woman who never left her home due to a degenerative condition. All facts came clear by the conclusion but the reader needed to keep up. It actually had humorous trend considering the foul play in the plot.
Here Comes Santa Paws by Laurien Berenson will be published by Kensington Books on September 27, 2019. It is a fun holiday read, one that should be enjoyed with the holidays approaching.

Not having read much in this series, I had no trouble keeping up with this installment. A fast paced read that you won't want to put down, with plenty of appearances by the poodles. Wonderful, realistic characters and a fun setting with a holiday them. Very enjoyable..

Melanie Travis is getting ready for Christmas, but it's her Aunt Peg who gets an early gift when she finds newborn puppies in a stocking she had used to decorate her mailbox. While Melanie is visiting the puppies at her aunt's house, she gets an urgent call from her ex-husband's new wife who Melanie now considers a friend. Claire calls Melanie when she makes a delivery to the home of one of her clients and finds her dead. Melanie becomes interested in the case and puts her own preparations for Christmas on hold to do a little sleuthing.

I enjoy this series featuring Melanie Travis, her Aunt Peg, and their standard poodles. This book doesn't have the usual tie-in to the dog-show world but still has plenty of appearances by the poodles and the newborn Australian Shepherds that her aunt is fostering. Melanie is a likable character who takes care of her family, her dogs, and still finds time to solve cases. Aunt Peg loves her family, but can be too overbearing. In this book, she is on her best behavior and I enjoyed her interactions with Melanie and the help she gives in solving the murder.

Longtime readers of the series will enjoy the holiday-themed mystery, but it's a good introduction for new readers, too. The book is on the short side, but I enjoy the fast pace of this entertaining story. I also like the interesting author's note about the inspiration for one of the characters in this book. "Here Comes Santa Paws" is a great book for fans of the series and other dog lovers who want to start getting into the spirit of the holidays.

I received this book from NetGalley, through the courtesy of Kensington Books. The book was provided to me in exchange for an honest review.